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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · E-business: value chain

Harbor Lane Books has run shops for decades. It has launched a website where customers browse and pay for books, which are then posted. It has also automated its stock replenishment with suppliers and uses an internal intranet for staff scheduling. Which description best captures the relationship between the company's online sales activity and its wider technology use?

E-commerce is the online buying and selling element and is one part of e-business. E-business is broader and includes electronically supported internal processes and supplier links, such as automated replenishment and an intranet, in addition to customer transactions on the website.

  1. AE-commerce is the online buying and selling element, and it forms one part of the broader e-business that also covers internal and supplier-facing processesCorrect
  2. BE-business is a narrower term than e-commerce and covers only the website payment function
  3. CE-marketing covers all the activities described, including supplier replenishment and staff scheduling
  4. DE-commerce and e-business are identical terms, so no distinction is needed

Explanation

E-commerce relates to transactions of buying and selling over electronic networks. E-business is broader, covering all electronically mediated information exchange inside the organisation and with partners. The website sales are e-commerce, while replenishment and the intranet extend into e-business. Treating e-business as narrower reverses the relationship.

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